joe biden will be trying to beat back the romney bump from the first presidential debate; and paul ryan will be working to stretch mitt romney's debate double into a home run. >> if ryan does really, really well, it could possibly fundamentally make this a real horse race, not just nationally but in the battleground states. so, i think there is a lot of expectation on both sides for what this debate possible could do. >> reporter: if you thought the first presidential debate was bogged down in statistics and policy details, you'll have more fun tonight. debate veterans are expecting fireworks. jeff nesbit was press secretary for former vice-president dan quayle. >> while both of them can go deep on wonky politics-- biden can go pretty deep on foreign policy and ryan can go pretty deep on economic policy-- i don't expect that at all in this debate. vice-presidential debates basically are two attack dogs going at each other to defend and promote the top of the ticket. >> reporter: once again, medicare will likely be the star of the show. many democrats were disappointed president obama di